Shemar Moore is calling out the decision to cancel SWAT.
In response to the series’ recent cancellation, the actor, 52, said in an Instagram Reel Saturday, “It makes no sense… We’re the best show on Friday night at 8 o’clock for CBS. The last two years we’ve been killing it. We’ve done nothing wrong. We did everything that was asked for.”
He said, “Let me tell a truth: did you know that I am the only African American male lead on network television. Not streaming, not cable — network television.”
“Beyond me, SWAT is the most diverse show on CBS,” Moore continued. “CBS, when I got hired to be Hondo on SWAT, was getting a lot of flack for lack of diversity. If I post this, and I think I might, I will get in a lot of trouble with CBS because I’m calling them out. Because they’ve been wonderful to me for 26 out of my 29-year career.”
“But to abruptly get told that you’re canceled when you led us to believe last week — and the week before, and the week before that — that we would have some semblance of a season seven to at least say goodbye, if not continue. And to abruptly be told, ‘You’re done.’
Moore then explained that it’s a matter of politics, saying “It’s all about money.”
“They said we’re cancelled, but guess what? I don’t think we’re done,” Moore said. “CBS is either gonna wake up and realize they made a mistake. Sony is gonna do their math and realize that this is not the right move.”
He continued, “I hope we can have a kumbaya and come back together and continue this show, because it’s a good time for families across the world.”
“If it is the end, life will go on. I’m not worried about me,” Moore clarified. “I care about my family, my crew, the writers, the producers, the caterers, the wardrobe, the sound mixers, the teamsters, the construction crew.”
“That’s a whole lot of people that are abruptly being told that you don’t matter. ‘Sorry. Thanks for your services. Good luck in finding a new job.’ And to me, that’s not OK,” he shared.
“I will be fine, but I’m upset because I busted my whole entire ass to prove that I could do this, and I did prove that I could do this,” Moore said. “But I am also humble enough to know that I did not do this alone.”
Moore then urged, “So I’m asking my homies, my fans and my baby girls; and the rest of the world who follow me or follow the show, follow the cast, my brothers and my sisters: Make some f—ing noise. And let them know that canceling SWAT is a f—ing mistake.”
Although Shemar Moore said posting the reel “could get me in a lot of trouble, he explained, “I’m making this video because a lot of lives are at stake, and I don’t think this is OK.”